(Reuters) - British event organiser Informa Plc (LON:INF) and its takeover target UBM Plc reported a rise in adjusted full-year earnings on Wednesday, driven largely by strength in their events businesses.
Informa, which signed an agreement in January to buy UBM, set a target to improve underlying revenue growth to more than 3.5 percent in 2018.
It reported a 31.3 percent rise in adjusted operating profit to 545.5 million pounds for the year ended Dec. 31. UBM's adjusted operating profit grew 25.3 percent to 294.2 million pounds.
About a decade after their previous merger attempt failed, Informa in January agreed to buy UBM by offering 1.083 new Informa shares and 163 pence in cash per UBM share.
About 60 percent of the combined group's revenue will come from events. Informa runs around 200 exhibitions a year, including Arab Health and Agrishow, while UBM counts Black Hat security events and Game Developers Conference in its 300-strong portfolio.
The entrance of disruptive advertising platforms such as Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has prompted companies to spend less on traditional advertising in newspapers and television. The events business has thrived as companies increasingly look for ways to connect directly with customers, global advertising data shows.
On Wednesday, Informa said its global exhibitions revenue rose 7.6 percent, outpacing the 0.1-2.2 percent growth noted across its three other units. UBM's annual events revenue growth accelerated to 5.3 percent on an adjusted underlying basis.
Informa's group underlying revenue grew 3.4 percent. In January, UBM had reported underlying revenue growth of about 3.5 percent citing better-than-expected performance over the fourth quarter.
Shareholders of both companies are expected to vote on the deal in April, with the transaction then slated to complete in the second quarter of the current year.